Last of Winter

............last winter project for me.......  On the altered collage etsy  forum a few decided,  to help spur everyone on, to have a monthly challenge. I guess it's to help, you know get those  creative juices flowing, the ones you have to  dig way down deep for.
                                     ...........the theme ...........SNOW

So here is my little project adding to the pile, although I haven't seen any buddy else's as of yet. hmmm

A first for me........... a altered collaged journal .  I must admit it was a fun project, with a little help from my friend.
I admire all those who sell their cherished pieces, a lot of time goes into all the details
............................................. TA DA.........
My Snow Journal

.............and an enlarged pic just to show off the details huh...........
  I had these cuckoo clock ends just sitting in my stash and thought they`ll work nicely to add interest to the ends of the ties.
And of course you have to have a little rust  ........Some raised snow flakes..........
The back ground paper came from Just Something I hand Made   I adjusted the colors a little.

A chickadee painted in acrylics, because you just have to have a bird with winter!
.............and a tiny bit of blink for one snowflake centre, from a re purposed rhinestone...........

..........................so out with winter.......... and let's SPRING  forward into COLOUR......................
Thank you for taking a peek.........................

Winter

.........Foot prints and shadows.......

............snowy day...........

.........road home............

New Winter Cards

 I thought it would be fun to create some winter cards, from my original paintings.  On the week end I played around with a few things and this is what I came up with.
This deer design was originally painted on top of a wooden coaster box.

The snowman scene is painted on a textured background with raised snowflakes, and is a fitting winter welcome sign.
If you would like the patterns to these, to create you own design you can go to my website.

The deer pattern is under the pattern packets section, and the snowman scene is under the epattern packs section.


When making your own cards, the key  is to make sure you have a good photo's.   You can ensure your  photo is nice and clear, by a couple of easy steps. Try taking your pictures outside.  Having a bright day works well, but no direct sunlight on your picture.  Also make sure you don't varnish you piece until after you have gotten in a few nice shots of your piece.Try to keep an eye on having your item straight in the camera.  This sounds easy, but I actually find it difficult, because if you move ever so slightly, your picture will not be straight.  If you have a tripod, this will help to avoid any shaking that might occur.
Another thing that can be very helpful is a photo editing program.  If you don't have one on your computer  you can go to www.picnik.com , a free editing program.  This will help to lighten your photo if needed, crop it, or adjust a few minor things.
Once you have your photo edited, you can now enhance it by using borders, and trims to frame it.  For this step again, I use a photo editing program.
Have fun creating and remember "imagination awakens creativity."

If you happen to be short on time, and you would prefer to purchase these cards, you can also find them at my etsy site here www.carolforsythca.etsy.com